Cuba not saying much about the deaths of five high-ranking generals in 10 days - National Post

Several days of official silence has given rise to speculation as to whether the aging officers died of natural causes or from something related to the protests on the island

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National Post Staff

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Jul 28, 2021  •  2 hours ago  •  2 minute read  •  12 Comments

Ruben Martinez Puente seen shaking hands with Fidel Castro. Photo by Twitter

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Five high-ranking Cuban generals have died within ten days of each other, according to the country’s government. The causes are still unknown.

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Several days of official silence has given rise to speculation as to whether the aging officers died of natural causes or from something related to the protests on the island.

A coronavirus outbreak at a face-to-face meeting, following July 11’s anti-government protests, could have been the cause, Miami’s Local 10 reports.

Retired Brig. Gen. Manuel Eduardo Lastres Pacheco, who fought as a soldier in the Sierra Maestra guerrilla under the late Ernesto “Che” Guevara ​​during the revolution in the late 1950s, passed away on Monday, Cuban media reported.

Also on Monday, Brig. Gen. Armando Choy Rodriguez, 87, became the latest revolutionary to die, tweeted Central University of Las Villas. Rodriguez, an author and historian of Chinese descent, founded the ‘July 26 Movement’ in Las Villas, according to Local 10 news.

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A controversial 79-year-old general in Cuba’s army reserve, Ruben Martinez Puente, also died without any cause given on Saturday. Gen. Puente gave the order to shoot down a civilian plane from the Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue in 1996, which resulted in four deaths, including of three U.S. citizens. The incident ratcheted up long simmering tensions with the U.S. to a “fever pitch,” New York Post reports.

Last week, media outlets said another reserve brigadier general died. Marcelo Verdecia Perdomo had served as bodyguard to Fidel Castro in the Sierra Maestra. No official reason was given.

And just days before, on July 18, the chief of the Eastern Army of Cuba, Agustín Peña Porres, died for reasons that were also not disclosed. However, close associates of Peña have reportedly given COVID as the reason for his death. He was set to turn 58 this week and was the youngest of the five.

“Critics suggest the string of high-profile deaths may be linked to skyrocketing cases of COVID-19 as the country struggles to contain its biggest spike yet,” Miami Herald noted.

Daily cases spiked to an average of 7,800 this week, climbing up from close to 2,000 on June 28. The total number of active cases are at 98,528 according to the most recent figures. Cuba has had 358,378 cases and 2,560 deaths since the onset of the COVID crisis, according to Worldometer.

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Cuba not saying much about the deaths of five high-ranking generals in 10 days - National Post
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